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This is an ongoing project to provide a rich cultural resource for Southern Italian Tradition and Mysticism. this page is dedicated also to history and cultural influence.

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Italian Mysticism

A Journey Through Ancient Wisdom and Sacred Traditions

“The Path to Paradise Begins in Hell” – Dante Alighieri

Italy’s mystical heritage is a tapestry woven from ancient rites, sacred symbols, and esoteric wisdom passed down through generations. From the ecstatic dances of Tarantismo to the hidden knowledge of Renaissance alchemists, Italian mysticism bridges the realms of folklore, spirituality, and divine connection. Rooted in the land’s deep history—where Roman, Etruscan, and Mediterranean traditions intertwine—these practices reveal pathways to transformation, healing, and communion with the unseen. Step into a world where myth and magic meet, where the whispers of the past still guide seekers of existential truth today.

The Traditions that Quantify Italian and Italian-American Mysticism

Tarantismo

The shamanic trance tradition of Tarantella. Using traditional music and dance we communicate with ancestors in the form of animals via possession. They are called Tarante, the souls of purgatory. Spirits who “bite” allowing the initiate to transcend from pain into power.

Examples:

• How Bacchic-Orphism lives on
• The power of 240-300bpm of the drum and trance work
• From the mystery tradition of Samothrace to Italy
• Ancestor work
• Tobacco and La Signora Taranta
• The use of water and copper bowls
• Preparing the bedroom of the Art
• How Hercules and Dionysus became Arlecchino, the arboreal gods and the connection to the Commedia dell’Arte
• The 4 families of the Libertine, Tempestuous, Water Loving, and Melancholic Tarante, the Daimones of Aristotle

Le Tradizione Popolare

The Popular Tradition or better known as Catholic Folk Magic. This tradition weaves together Paganism and Catholicism which has evolved since Christianity spread throughout the Italian Peninsula.

Examples:

• Le Sette Sorrelle, the 7 Madonna Sisters
• U’Muzzuni, the effigy of Persephone
• Waters of San Giovanni
• Easter House blessing with traditional native incense
• Mata and Grifone, the modern Hades and Persephone
• Le Pupazze, the mothers and daughters
• Il Battente, the men who bleed on Easter
• Gardens of Christ and Saint John, Adonis lives
• Frunni d’Ulia and Conte Maggia, the eternal tree spirit lovers
• Charms of the cornicello, mano cornuto, mano fica, and cimaruta, and how Italian-Americans smelted them to hide

Il Culto delle Anime Pezzetelle | Neapolitan Necromancy

The Neapolitan Cult of Souls extends beyond Naples and into Sicily as well. Here we find a strong association with the dead of red, black, and white color connected to the auspicious days of Monday and Friday.

Examples:

• The three chiefs of the Fontenelle Cemetery, that is Il Capitano, Donna Concetta, and Lucia
• Animal Sola
• Pulcinella, trickster, psychopomp of souls, master of the fig tree in Hell
• Saint James, he who carries you to the afterlife
• Our Lady of Mount Carmel who feeds souls in purgatory with her breast milk, the milky way
• Adopting a skull, making a house for it, feeding it, and receiving its wisdom via incubation dreams
• “Boat Man/Skeleton Man”, coins of the dead

Fa Lu Santuccio | Hereditary Tradition

Every family has unique traditions that are innumerable. These are meant to remain secret, with secret incantations, prayers, and ritual gestures. Many of these are passed on during Christmas Eve or Easter. Some believe that a family elder who carries “the power” cannot die unless it is passed onto a chosen family member.

Examples:

• Segneture or “The Signs” (Italian “Mudras”)
• Animistic beliefs about nature, every plant and stone has a soul
• Dance of Fruit Tree, calling the Dryads
• Egg divination of La Madonna, preferably on Saint Johns Day
• San Giuseppe Home Selling Ritual
• U’Cammanu, the commanding of spirits in effigy heads
• Incubation or dream rituals
• Plant familiars and how to “wash their face”
• Dowsing with olive fronds
• The Passing of the Powers Ritual
• Ritual of the “Boat Man/Skeleton Man” for the deceased
• The “Sicilian Prophecy of the return of the Giants”
• Curing illness with olive oil, heat, and the ritual of arm drawing
• Malocchio Removal
• Preparing the bedroom of the art and mediumship
• Easter Home Cleansing ritual of the rolling pin
• La Madonna and the spell of the rain

Stregoneria Italiana

The most misunderstood of all the traditions, the true cult of Madonna Oriente, that is, Diana. The most persistent cult of Italic Paganism was that of Diana-Hecate and Bacchus. Today we see it most apparently in the Carnevale, but its rituals have been underground, much like Tarantismo due to persecution. A world of spirits, and personal communion with the divine nature lords.

Examples

• La Madonna Oriente i.e Diana
• Luciferum Maiorem i.e. Bacchus
• Fairies called Ronni/Folletti/Fatti/Janare
• Donne di Fora, women of the night
• The record of Vanna, a Sicilian Strega of Hereditary Tradition from the book By-Paths in Sicily
• Tree of Benevento
• Spell of the Lemon and Pins
• Witches ointment, who fly on pitchforks and brooms
• Dream quests to Malta to dance with the Grand Minister and his lover, Donna Octaviana
• King Mirez
• Trizzi braids, your hair has power
• The 10 companies of ancestors
• The 6 Principle Demons
• Aetna, volcano to the entrance of Casa Cauda – Hell
• Pomegranate, the infernal fruit of love
• Mandrake, the forbidden fruit of Eve
• Rosemary, the sacred herb of remembrance
• Laurel, the herb of necromancy
• Moon and Sun, lovers of the empyrean
• Aradia, messiah of liberation, Herodias lives in us

Stregheria and Benedicaria

Italian-American traditions created in the the last few decades. Benedicaria commonly is used as a synanym for the Tradizione Popolare but they are technically not the same. Stregheria is a blend of Stregoneria Italiana with Wicca. These are however exclusively Italian-American traditions of recent innovation.

Examples:

Benedicaria, Catholicism and American folk magic (almost certainly influenced by Afro-Latino sorcery)

Raven Grimassi’s Stregheria

Vito Quattrocchi’s Benedicaria

Reinterpretation and diasporic evolution

Stregheria, Paganism and Witchcraft